
Michael Strahan’s daughter undergoes cancer treatment, puts Proton Therapy in the spotlight
SOMERSET, NJ (Somerset County) – The daughter of former NFL star and TV personality Michael Strahan has put proton therapy in the spotlight since her announcement earlier this month that she is receiving treatment for a malignant brain tumor.
he announcement from Isabella Strahan came during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Isabella Strahan, a freshman at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was diagnosed in late October after she began experiencing headaches. She has medulloblastoma, which is a cancerous brain tumor that grows quickly, and is more likely to spread to other parts of the body.
Dr. Brian Chon, medical director for Somerset County-based ProCure Proton Therapy Center, said proton therapy can effectively treat tumors in sensitive areas like the brain while reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissue in the brain by up to 50%.
While ProCure did not treat Isabella Strahan, ProCure sees patients with tumors in the brain and other sensitive areas of the body. ProCure was one of the first freestanding proton therapy Centers in New Jersey and has treated more than 6,000 patients in its first 10 years.
Dr. Chon said the biggest advantage of proton therapy is that it precisely targets tumors while minimizing exposure to nearby brain tissue. Where standard X-ray radiation releases its maximum dose and continues to release it as it passes beyond the tumor, proton therapy releases its maximum dose directly within the tumor and then stops.
“Because we can focus the dose of radiation within the tumor and minimize exposure to nearby brain tissue, eyes and the optic nerve, we find that many patients have fewer side effects than with standard radiation treatment,” Dr. Chon said.
Proton therapy can also provide these benefits:
- Treating the most irregular-shaped tumors with greater accuracy
- Combining with conventional radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and/or as a follow-up to surgery
- Enabling patients to maintain their quality of life during and after treatment
For more information, visit www.procure.com/brain_tumors.